Council adopts revised Water Conservation Plan, delays parts of drought-contingency changes

The Corpus Christi City Council voted to adopt an updated 2025 Water Conservation Plan with multiple staff-proposed amendments and directed staff to update appendices before formal submission to state regulators.

Corpus Christi Water staff presented the plan and highlighted a restructured, public-facing format, stronger emphasis on effluent reuse and a strategic goal to diversify water supplies (surface water, groundwater, seawater, and reuse). Staff proposed removing the table that fixed percentage targets by source, removing project-specific production volumes from the public document (to avoid locking the city into preliminary numbers), and updating water-loss targets: staff recommended a 2030 water-loss target of 13 gallons per capita per day (gpcd) and a 2035 target of 11 gpcd, clarifying the calculation method tied to population at the time of measurement.

Council members discussed clarifying multifamily allocations (a separate drought-contingency item), the need to keep appendices up to date with ongoing projects, and the desire to make the plan actionable for residents (plain-language best-practice guidance and outreach). After motions to amend the draft plan with staff changes, to add current projects staff is actively pursuing, and to remove two appendices pages (D1–D2) that listed older water-right application details, the council approved the conservation plan as amended.

Council also separately tabled related drought-contingency ordinance changes tied to allocation methodology for multifamily accounts and wholesale customers to allow further meetings with stakeholders (notably the apartment association and wholesale partners); council set a return date of June 2 for those items. Staff emphasized they will continue to meet with multifamily representatives and wholesale providers to avoid unintended consequences and to allow variance processes where justified by occupancy/vacancy data.

Why it matters: the plan sets the city’s strategic goals for efficiency, reuse and leak detection, and will be submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas Water Development Board as the city’s official conservation plan. The plan also frames targets and outreach that matter for drought management, utility operations and rate discussions.

What to watch next: staff will update the document appendices with current project lists and submit the revised plan to state agencies; the council will resume consideration of drought contingency allocation rules at its June 2 meeting after additional stakeholder meetings.